1 Catedral
2 Fundació Joan Miró
3 Montjuïc
4 Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
5 Museu Picasso
6 Parc Güell
7 Poble Espanyol
8 La Rambla
9 La Sagrada Família
10 Santa Maria del Mar
Dominating the northern flank of Montjuïc, this imposing neoclassical palace contains a treasure trove of Catalan art spanning several centuries.
The National Museum of Catalan Art is one of the best museums of medieval art in the world. Housed in an extravagant National Exhibition building, built as the symbol of the 1929 World Exhibition, the museum is currently undergoing renovation by architect Gae Aulenti, who also converted the Gare d'Orsay into one of Paris's foremost museums.
The MNAC boasts the world's most eminent Romanesque art collection, with stone sculptures, wood carvings, gold and silverwork, altar cloths, enamels and coins and a beautifully presented series of 11th- and 12th-century murals, carefully stripped from church walls throughout Catalonia and precisely reconstructed in apses, as if they were still in their original locations. The idea for this collection originated in the early 20th century when the theft of national architectural treasures in Catalonia was at its height, necessitating a church-led crusade to move some of the region's most precious treasures to a safe location. The museum's Gothic collection forms a striking contrast with over 400 highly ornate retables and sculptures, including an extraordinary 15th-century Virgin in full flamenco dress. A somewhat frag-mented collection of Renaissance and baroque paintings embraces works by Tintoretto, El Greco and Zurbarán. The museum also contains the Museum of Drawings and Prints, the Numismatic Museum of Catalonia, the Museu d'Art Modern, which moved here from the Ciutadella Park in 2004, and will eventually house the General Library of Art History.Address: Palau Nacional, Parc de Montjuïc
Phone: 93 622 03 76
Hours: Tue-Sat 10-7; Sun and hols 10-2:30. Closed Mon
Restaurant: Café-bar (Inexpensive)
Bus: 9, 13, 30, 50, 55
Metro: Espanya
Accessible: Excellent
Admission: Expensive; free first Thu of month
Other: Anella Olímpica
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